🧀 Torta del Casar

Torta del Casar is a Spanish cheese with a protected designation of origin (PDO, registered in the EU in 2003). It is made from raw ewe's milk of the merino and entrefino breeds and coagulated with vegetable rennet from the cardoon (Cynara cardunculus). It is matured for at least 60 days.

Milk. The milk must be raw, whole and non-standardised, with at least 11.0% fat plus protein, at least 4.8% protein and a pH of 6.6 to 6.9. Flocks are fed by extensive or semi-extensive grazing on the natural resources of the area, with at most 1.8 livestock units per hectare under semi-extensive farming.

Making. Milk production and all cheesemaking steps (coagulation, cutting, moulding, pressing, salting and maturing) take place in the production area in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura: districts of Los Llanos de Cáceres, Sierra de Fuentes and Montánchez.

Look and taste. The cheese is a cylinder with fairly flat faces, plano-convex sides and rounded edges, at least 7 cm across and no taller than half its diameter. Weights are 200–500 g (small), 501–800 g (medium) or 801–1,100 g (large). Fat in dry matter is at least 50%, dry matter at least 50%, pH 5.20 to 5.90 and salt no more than 3.0%. The rind is semi-hard, of a uniform ochre colour, free of colourings and traditionally rubbed with oil; small cracks may appear. The specification describes a creamy texture and a slightly bitter taste. Intense proteolysis before the rind is fully formed makes the cheese flatten and bulge at the sides, like a torta de pan.

Serving. According to the specification, the top is sliced off like a lid to reach the paste, and the lid is put back for storage.

Labelling. Casein labels are not allowed on the rind. Each whole or cut cheese carries a certification label with a batch number and a unique serial number, together with the cheese dairy's commercial label.

History. The specification cites a 1791 record of the cheese, which was used to pay tithes, in the Interrogatorios de la Real Audiencia for the judicial district of Cáceres.